After a few more terms with no new progress reports, Dean Aquam came to find Jeb. He was working in his field, still working to make Ritual Magic work with the Swarm. It had seemed so simple in concept, but every part of executing the idea was an almost insurmountable problem. Yes, Jeb was able to make the bees dance in unison, but Rituals were made to be performed with human bodies.
After rewriting a few simple Rituals to work with the bees’ anatomy, Jeb ran into the second issue. Every Ritual assumed that the participants would each be an autonomous unit, adding their own unique will to the dance. The bees were not autonomous from each other, sharing a mind within the greater Hive. Jeb felt as though he was just one week away from dealing with that issue. However, he had felt like that since starting to work on the problem.
“Jeb, do you have any updates for me?” Dean Aquam asked, breaking Jeb out of his mumbling.
After Jeb explained his issues, Dean Aquam shook his head.
“Remind me what, exactly, you are working on for your thesis?”
Jeb frowned. “I’m trying to find the connection between different Schools of Magic.”
“How does modifying Ritual Magic to make it possible for bees to perform them meet that goal?”
“Oh.”
Dean Aquam nodded and walked away.
Jeb looked at his notes. Now that he was refocusing on his specific thesis project, his notes were far more useful. Redesigning Ritual Magic to make it possible for bees to dance involved almost the same work that deriving fundamental aspects of Ritual Magic would have. By the end of the term, Jeb found that Ritual Magic and Bardic Magic were derivable from one another.
If he assumed Rituals came first, Bardic Magic was created to remove the need for others to participate. By tying threads of Magic to the instrument a Bard used, it was as though multiple dancers had moved in unison. Deriving Rituals from Bardic Magic, it made the Songs easier to perform over large periods of time or with less training. All Jeb had left to do was connect Alchemy to the other Magics.
Jeb had the inkling that each School was connected to two other Schools. With that in mind, he attempted to link Alchemy to Enchanting and Ritual Magic, since those were the two Schools that lacked a neighbor. Alchemy and Enchanting were also interderivable.
Alchemy and Enchanting both took the physical world and Magically changed it. As Jeb worked, he found that Enchantments slowly changed the Essence of a material. The difference between the two Schools seemed to be primarily one of focus. In Enchanting, the change in Essence were a consequence of flowing Mana. In Alchemy, changing the flow of Mana was a consequence of manipulating Essences.
Try as he might, however, Jeb was completely unable to connect Alchemy to Rituals. Rather than wait for Dean Aquam to search him out again, Jeb brought the issue to his attention after a term without progress.
“Your issue seems reasonable enough,” Dean Aquam said, reading Jeb’s latest thesis draft. “After all, your research has neglected an entire School of Magic.”
Even though the words were delivered mildly, Jeb felt as though the world was shaking from the implications. He left the meeting in a daze and collapsed asleep. That night, for the first time in years, Jeb dreamed of Magic.
The world around him seemed different. Jeb could not remember what, exactly, it had seemed like the last time he met with Magic. This time, however, Jeb found himself in a forest. A few steps later, he was surrounded by wild prairie. Step after step, the exact flora and fauna differed, but a sense of primal wildness pervaded them all.
Magic’s call to Jeb could not have been any clearer, and he was not the least bit surprised when he was told to learn Druidic Magic. During the dream, that seemed completely reasonable. Upon waking, however, Jeb had difficulty thinking of how best to tell the Academy board that he wanted to take a post-doctoral visit to the Druidic Enclave. “Magic itself told me to” didn’t seem like the sort of argument that would be approved.
“First thing’s first,” Jeb said to himself, “I need to finish my dissertation.” Having connected the five Schools he knew to one another, the only work remaining for his thesis was to figure out how the other Magics he knew connected to that cycle. Alchemical Brewing barely merited a section, being almost entirely a subset of Alchemy. Weaving brought Jeb far more issues.
At first, Magical Weaving seemed like something that could tie in with Glyphs or Bardic Magic. After all, Jeb had first visualized the connection between the two as a form of weaving. The more that he worked on the project, however, the more Jeb came to realize that weaving the threads of a Song was nothing more than a mental model that he had needed to connect the Schools to each other. Looking at his spool of threaded fire, Jeb had an idea.
Once he had restrung his lute, Jeb started plucking the notes of a Fire Song. The flames around him danced as though Jeb was a Flame Singer. It was easier to move them than to breathe. Future tests revealed similar results for each of the other Schools of Magic: incorporating threaded fire made Fire Magic easier. Whether he used it as a conduit in an Enchantment, the filling in an engraved Glyph, or as the string in the rare Ritual that required props, Fire Magic was enhanced and other Magics were slightly suppressed.
Inspired by those results, Jeb spent his remaining term breaks working to change the Attunement or Essence of different materials to see what happened. Doing some reading, he found that most of his experiments had already been done. Although using well-prepared materials did increase the efficiency of Magics, it was rarely worth the effort. The Mana required to create threaded fire was more than the amount saved in any of his Enchantments.
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In the end, the fact that Weaving’s Magic interacted with each School led Jeb to the conclusion that none of the Magics were fundamental. His thesis was received and defended without much fuss, though he was shocked by the sudden appearance of most of his extended family when he began to speak. When questioned, Dean Aquam admitted to paying for their transportation.
“It is important for Candidates to have their family in attendance,” he said.
It was strange to see the two arcs of his life in the same place. Jeb found that he was pulled in two directions. A part of him felt like the youngest in the family. The other felt like a senior student in the Academy. It was a tension that did not resolve until his family left.
As Jeb turned his signed thesis in to the Registrar, he also included his proposed post-doctoral project. The Registrar took the form unblinkingly, and Jeb started preparing to leave for the Druidic Enclave. The next morning, however, Jeb was stopped in the cafeteria by his entire thesis committee.
“Jeb, are you aware of the dangers inherent in traveling to the Druidic Enclave?” Professor Bearson asked.
“I am,” Jeb replied, rummaging in his bag for the list of preparations he had already made. That seemed to satisfy Bearson, but the rest of his committee was not so easily swayed.
“I am a Doctor of the Academy and have spent the past years creating Artifacts,” Jeb said, surprised at the firmness in his tone. “Where my title is not enough to deter those who may wish me harm, the skills I have developed will see me to safety.”
“Your proposed project will almost certainly require gaining a Druidic Magic Skill,” his Glyphs lecturer pointed out. “As I am sure you are aware, it is illicit for anyone within the Republic to have a Druidic Magic Skill.”
“Oh!” Jeb slapped his head, realizing that he had forgotten one of his preparations to leave. “Come with me,” he said, heading towards the grove.
“I am certain that at least one of you can see my current Status,” he said once he was at the tree. Seeing nods from the committee, he continued, “please record it before I begin.”
With that, he called his lute and a few bees to himself and prepared to accept the fruits of his labors. Jeb carefully claimed the Experience he had accumulated over his time in the Academy, Leveling and Tiering up to minimize wasted Experience. When he had finished, he turned to his Professors.
“What do you notice about my Status now?” he asked.
“You are at the peak of Eighth Tier,” Dean Aquam said.
“Well, yes,” Jeb agreed, feeling how much weaker the world around him seemed. Even as a Fourth Tier Wizard, he had become attuned to the eddies of Magic that suffused the Academy. Now that he was at the peak of Tier Eight, Jeb felt completely sure that he could change them if he so desired. He didn’t want to risk anything which would give his committee grounds to reject his application, however, and so restrained the urge to do so.
“Sorry,” he said, refocusing on the point, “what else do you notice?”
Professor Quicksilver rolled his eyes. “The only Skills you still have are Magic and Gift of Gab.”
“Exactly,” Jeb said. “Magic consumes every Skill that I have, especially those which are inherently Magical. At worst, I simply need to remain in the Druidic Enclave until I can gain a single Level, which should not be too difficult.”
Every other objection faded quickly. Jeb finished packing and prepared to leave. He donned his Doctoral Robes and stepped into the Capital. Seeing the wide berth that the passersby gave him, Jeb frowned. It took him a moment to realize that he was unconsciously adjusting the Magic around him. Once he noticed, he tried his best to suppress the feeling. As he attempted to do so, however, Jeb finally understood why the Eighth Tier was known as a Tier of Power. Magic’s adjustment around him was a consequence of his Class.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Arc (Compared to Beginning of Arc):
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Humdrum Human Class: Wizard Level: 255 Experience: 0/10017
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Total Statistic Load: 563 ->14388 Physical Load: 218 ->2888 Strength: 52 ->352 Dexterity: 53 ->353 Endurance: 54 ->354 Vitality: 55 ->855 Presence: 4 ->974
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Mental Load: 345 ->11500 Intelligence: 68 ->2310 Willpower: 75 ->2311 Magic Affinity: 74 ->2303 Mana Depth: 64 ->2288 Charisma: 64 ->2288
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Mana: 1755 ->2515
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Skills: Gift of Gab Magic
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic Glyph Specializer Academy Student Academy Graduate
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)